A new platform has launched today (7 October) to support mental health, improve wellbeing and support others. Every Mind Matters was developed by Public Health England (PHE) in partnership with the NHS.

Every Mind Matters

Taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health. With more than eight in 10 people having experienced early signs of poor mental health, it is important to look for support early.

“We’re all aware of the benefits of looking after our physical health and the steps we can take to keep ourselves healthy, but many of us are not as knowledgeable or proactive as we could be when it comes to our mental health,” explains Health Secretary, Matt Hancock.

“Every Mind Matters will benefit us all with an accessible tool to help manage our wellbeing at the click of a button.”

Feeling anxious, stressed, having low mood or trouble sleep can all be a response to life’s challenges, but they can become more serious if people don’t take action.

Over a quarter of people who experience signs of poor mental health wait at least six months before taking this action – Every Mind Matters shows people simple steps to feel better, sooner.

Tonight (7 October), a special film to promote the platform will air at around 8:45pm across ITV, Channel 4 and Sky channels. The short film is narrated by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The powerful film features a range of people whose lives have been affected by poor mental health, including some well-known faces like Davina McCall, Katie Piper, Nadiya Hussain and Rob Beckett.

Free plan

The new platform, which is free to use, uses a quiz to find the simple steps to better prepare you for life’s ups and downs.

The quiz asks questions like: How is your mood?; How well do you sleep?; How anxious or on edge do you feel?; Have you been worrying about anything?

Credit @NHSEngland on Twitter

“People are increasingly interested in practical steps they can take themselves to prevent and manage common mental health problems such as anxiety, stress and depression,” emphasises NHS chief executive, Simon Stevens.

“That’s where Every Mind Matters comes in, as a helpful complement to the work of NHS mental health teams and services.”

This quiz enables you to create a personalised action plan, Your Mind Plan, with a set of self-care actions to deal with stress, boost mood, improve sleep and feel in control of your mental health.

Support

Support is vital to tackling mental health issues whether this is chatting to a close friend or seeking expert advice.

Your Mind Plan will suggest support and advice services that could help lift your mood and combat mental health issues before they become more serious.

“At a time when only a third of people with a mental health problem get access to any kind of help and support, it’s important to do whatever we can to help people take steps to stay well and try and prevent mental health problems developing in the first place,” says chief executive of Mind, Paul Farmer.

“We hope that this campaign will help increase public awareness of how we can all stay as mentally well as possible.”

Get simple steps to better mental health with a free action plan from Every Mind Matters #everymindmatters